Yes, the classic Rove strategy of attacking a strength as if it were a weakness, which is a dangerous strategy when so much of the country is fed up with Wall Street. OWS is turning out to be a great wedge issue, putting the right in the position of having to defend the bloated and corrupt corporate state.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

Yes, the classic Rove strategy of attacking a strength as if it were a weakness, which is a dangerous strategy when so much of the country is fed up with Wall Street. OWS is turning out to be a great wedge issue, putting the right in the position of having to defend the bloated and corrupt corporate state.


It's surprising how much this propaganda in the media is working though. I live in Seattle in more or less and Art commune area and there's so many really REALLY left wing people around me that don't like the OWS protests. They usually completely ignorant of what they're doing or why, and they're not even bothering to do any investigation. They usually just take one situation and grab hold of it like that is the entire crux of the movement.

One person I know hates the OWS movement because she saw a couple of them in line at Starbucks. I can't imagine the amount of brainwashing we have to undo in this country, I'm almost of the opinion that it can't be done.

I think the fundamental issues are to do with education and involvement.

Think of a typical group situation with your friends, what would happen if you started to discuss how the corporations own the politicians via lobbyists and the K Street Project. People become friends for a whole heap of reasons, but unless you're a politician, it's not likely you chose your friends because of politics. They might have similar political tendencies to you, but if your views differ in one major area, it could be difficult to have a non-awkward conversation about K Street with them.

But what if the democratic process was part of education. I'm not talking about 'how to suck the dick of a Walmart executive so you can become a senator' type of education, I'm talking about the introduction of classes that teach real democratic principles such as organizing protests (fundamental to democracy), organizing people with a variety of skill-sets to create community projects, learning about practical problem solving for issues that cause democracy to be worse than it could.

Take it a step further, this is not only taught, but those that do well in the classes are highly considered, and rewarded for their initiative. What if the teachers that taught those classes were highly paid, and it was difficult and competitive to become one of these teachers so it would be a highly respected profession - (how they treat teachers in Iceland for example).

Currently, even if several individuals have an almost identical political view, their is still an element of fear - talking the truth can get you in trouble, fired, or cause other harms. But if discussion was encouraged and participation was part of growing up think of how much easier it would be to have that same discussion with your friends and acquaintances.

So yes, @Yogi, I think it's difficult to know what to do in the present climate - there is an incentive to avoid critical analysis of the system, and small to medium sized protests are going to accomplish very little systemic change (even if they do have small victories along the way, like the delay of Keystone XL). So let's hope OWS keeps growing, and in addition, people that can make a difference at a local/state level continue to do so.

seems that a very important aspect to OWS is that it is trying to be a social movement outside the bounds of a possessory identity. no party to belong to, nothing to identify with. just a call to attention. the rational observation that the top 1% is screwing everyone pretty badly.